Atmore man charged with murder
By DON FLETCHER
News Staff Writer
An Atmore man remained behind bars as midweek approached, charged with murder in the death of an unidentified person whose body was found September 3 in a wooded area near Nokomis.
Investigators with the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office and Atmore Police Department were sent to the Nokomis area Thursday, Sept. 3, after a tip was received that a possible homicide had occurred in the Nokomis area.
The county and city detectives conducted several interviews and executed numerous search warrants throughout the night. After an extensive search of several area woodlands, lawmen located an unidentified human corpse that had been hidden in the brush.
Investigators and crime scene technicians processed the scene, and De’Antae Deshay Knight, 23, of Atmore was eventually arrested and charged with one count each of felony murder and misdemeanor harassment. Knight remained this week in the Escambia County Detention Center under a $1 million bond.
The identity of the deceased is unknown and will be released after identification is made by the Alabama Department of Forensic Sciences. At least two missing persons reports have been received recently by local authorities — one of a teenage girl, and one of an adult woman.
KlaasKids, an organization dedicated to helping find missing children, assisted in the search for the body and suspect.
Sheriff Heath Jackson said the investigation is ongoing. He urged anyone with information that might help with the investigation to call the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office at 251-809-0741.